1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to portable chairs. Specifically, this invention relates to a chair that can quickly and easily be converted into a folded, portable backpack configuration, the chair preferably including an arm rest, a headrest, and a backpack for transporting additional items along with the portable chair.
2. Description of Related Art
There are many types of portable chairs available and common to the marketplace. There are indoor and outdoor chairs of many different shapes and sizes; some chairs are permanent, others either movable or portable. Some portable chairs can be folded into sections to ease in transporting and storage. Portable chairs do not generally include arm rests and headrests due to the difficulty of folding these elements along with the rest of the chair into an easily portable configuration.
There are also many bags and backpacks available in today""s marketplace. Different bags, containers, coolers, and other carrying devices are well known in the art. There are also a wide variety of backpacks available in the marketplace. Some backpacks are available are for everyday use, while others are used for hiking and camping.
Due to their mobile nature, portable chairs are often carried with bags and backpacks. For example, when attending outdoor sporting events and outdoor concerts, it is often required that the attendees bring their own chairs. These attendees usually also wish to bring additional materials such as food, cameras, and other miscellaneous articles. Such articles are best carried together in a bag or pack. Unfortunately, it is not easy for a single person to carry both a chair and a pack of food and other articles. It is not easy to transport the folding chairs currently on the market. These chairs are cumbersome to carry and difficult to hold. The weight of the chair is unbalanced when it is in the folded position; and the chair tends to come unfolded during transportation. Carrying a chair becomes doubly difficult if the person is also carrying a bag full of food and other articles. This chore can becomes nearly impossible is the person is also carrying or attending a small child.
To solve this problem, inventors have created several portable chairs that include a bag or backpack. Examples of such combinations are disclosed in Rettenberger, U.S. Pat. No. 5,722,717, Kober, U.S. Pat. No. 5,628,437, Lamb at al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,409,291, Hale, U.S. Pat. No. 5,318,342, Bradbury, U.S. Pat. No. 4,676,548, and Batie, U.S. Pat. No. 3,077,327. The majority of these prior art inventions use a folding lawn-chair style chair with a backpack mounted on one of various parts of the chair. These chairs are all extremely cumbersome and difficult to manage; and they are uncomfortable and clumsy in use. Batie and Rettenberger both disclose combination chair and backpacks utilizing a three-frame folding chair similar to the instant invention; however, neither of these chairs mount a backpack on the back of the chair. The structural instability of these designs precludes mounting anything on the back of the chair; and indeed, the chairs are so poorly designed they tend to collapse when there is nobody sitting in the chair. Furthermore, the chairs do not easily convert into a portable configuration, and none of these inventions include a headrest and arm rests.
Other prior art inventions include U.S. Pat. No. 4,773,574 to Burgard (1988), which discloses a pack having first and second rectangular frames which are pivotally interconnected to form a chair which folds into a backpack. This invention suffers from several serious disadvantages. First, the pack portion is located on the underside of the seat rather than the back of the chair. Second, the support legs are all of the same length, causing the chair to lack the stability achieved in the present invention. Third, this patent describes what is essentially a two-frame structure that does not fold or lock satisfactorily. U.S. Pat. No. 4,687,248 to Ross and Friedman (1987) discloses a tote-bag with a complex construction that transforms into a chair by a slow complex step-by-step process. This tote-bag is not preferred because of the cumbersome process to achieve portability. U.S. Pat. No. 4,190,918 to Glenn M Harvell (1978), discloses a simple carry suitcase cushion that folds out into a double cushion. This invention does not allow any amenities to be transported inside and only provides a cushion that must be used atop of an existing chair or bench. U.S. Pat. No. 4,676,548 to Patrick H. Bradbury (1987) discloses a bulky and uncomfortable lawn chair with a pack on the back.
The prior art teaches various portable chairs; and some of the prior art even teaches a portably chair having a backpack. However, the prior art does not teach a three-frame portable chair having a backpack mounted on the back, making the backpack easy to use and convenient. The prior art also does not teach a portable chair with an arm-rest or a headrest. The present invention fulfills these needs and provides further related advantages as described in the following summary.
The present invention provides a portable chair having front and rear seat support frames hingably joined for rotating the seat support frames between a first mutually aligned position for carrying the combination, and a second spread apart position for sitting. The chair further includes a seat means for joining the pair of seat support frames and providing an upwardly facing surface when the seat support frames are in the second spread apart position, whereby the support frames are self supporting on a support surface for placing the sitting means at a convenient height. A back support frame is hingably joined to one of the pair of seat support frames and rotatable between an upwardly extending position for establishing a back rest, and a laid-over position wherein the back support frame abuts the sitting means. The chair includes an arm rest and a headrest that fold with the chair and do not interfere with the chair""s portability.
A backpack is preferably attached to the back support frame of the chair. A shoulder mounting means is attached to the pair of seat support frames such that with the pair of set support frames placed into the mutually aligned position, and with the back support frame placed into the laid-over position, the combination is mountable onto a person""s back for carrying thereon. The chair further preferably includes a headrest and at least one arm rest.
A primary objective of the present invention is to provide a portable chair having advantages not taught by the prior art.
Another objective is to provide a portable chair with arm rests and a head rest, the chair maintaining an overall structure that allows easily converting the chair into a folded and portable configuration. It is critical that the headrest and the arm rests fold themselves easily into a compact structure without requiring the user to disassemble any components or carry them separately.
Another objective is to provide a portable chair having a backpack mounted on the back of the chair when the chair is unfolded. Prior art inventions mount the backpack in inaccessible locations such as the underside of the seat. Placing the backpack on the back of the seat is preferably because it places the backpack in a more accessible position. It also allows for a much larger backpack because it is not limited to he space between the legs of the chair.
A further objective is to provide a portable chair on which the support legs of the rear leg frame are longer than the support arms of the front leg frame. This structural feature allows the chair to remain upright when the pack is full and nobody is sitting in the chair.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following more detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate, by way of example, the principles of the invention.